NASA's experiment simulating life on Mars ends in Hawaii

PanARMENIAN.Net - The six people who went into isolation for a year in Hawaii to help NASA plan for a mission to Mars emerged Sunday, August 28, happy to breathe fresh air and meet new people, AFP reports.

The team was based on a barren, northern slope of Mauna Loa, living inside a dome that is 11 meters in diameter and 6.1 meters tall.

French astrobiologist Cyprien Verseux said that he was "feeling excited" about being in the open and eating fresh food again.

The most challenging aspect of the experiment was the monotony, he said in a Periscope interview by organizers posted on Twitter.

Crew members experienced no seasons inside the dome, and were able to go outside only dressed in spacesuits, AFP says.

Nevertheless he was upbeat about the experiment results.

"A mission to Mars in the near future is realistic," he said. "The technical and psychological problems can be overcome."

The crew also included a German physicist and four Americans -- a pilot, an architect, a doctor/journalist and a soil scientist.

The dome was located in a place with no animals and little vegetation around. The team locked themselves in on August 28, 2015.

The men and women had their own small rooms, with space for a sleeping cot and desk, and spent their days eating food like powdered cheese and canned tuna.

They had limited access to the Internet.